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The Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors have faced off on three occasions this season and things haven’t gone well for one of the squads. In the three match-ups, Toronto sports a 3-0 record and, at the risk of oversimplifying things, Atlanta owns a -22.2 net rating with a complete inability to consistently generate offense (88.4 points per 100 possessions). On Tuesday evening, the teams will wrap up their season series with a second battle in Canada and, given the backdrop, it appears to be a daunting task for the Hawks.
Atlanta famously emerged victorious on Sunday afternoon, with Taurean Prince converting a game-winning three that had interesting draft lottery implications. In many ways, the Hawks didn’t play particularly well in that spot but, given Phoenix’s struggles and the clutch heroics, Mike Budenholzer’s team does enter this contest against the Raptors riding the high of a win.
From a match-up perspective, there isn’t a lot to love here. The Hawks are shorthanded to the point where Jaylen Morris, Miles Plumlee and Tyler Dorsey all exceeded 25 minutes of action on Sunday and, even with Andrew White and Josh Magette arriving from the G League, depth could be an issue. Malcolm Delaney (ankle) is not expected to play and, even with Kent Bazemore set to presumably return after a one-game rest absence, the Raptors have a distinct roster advantage.
Toronto has been the best team in the East this season and, with that in mind, the good folks in Las Vegas have installed the home team as a 13-point favorite over the Hawks. That, of course, doesn’t mean that the Raptors are guaranteed anything but it does reemphasize the difficulty of this match-up for the visitors.
Stay tuned throughout the day for all the latest.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 pm ET
Location: Air Canada Centre
TV: Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass
Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta)